Bertrand Charron

Bertrand is a France-based bilingual journalist/editor & international consultant. Since 2003: Chief editor & Founder of the economic & environmental intelligence portal (SeafoodIntelligence.com & SeafoodEthics.com) covering global marine/fresh water environment, politics & issues re. seafood. He has 20 years’ experience of interviewing key international stakeholders + analysing fisheries/aquaculture politics & sustainability trends. In a ‘previous life’ (1997-2003), Bertrand was one of the founders of intrafish.com: Chief Editor of Intrafish.com, International News Editor at IntraFish Media. Managing Director of IntraFish Ltd & shareholder in holding company IntraFish AS. Worked also on Intrafish’s predecessor: ‘Seafarm Business Review’… sent to companies by… fax!

Seafood Intelligence strives to help filling the ‘knowledge gap’​ with a strong focus on seafood sustainability (while highlighting differences of opinions & stakeholders’ interests) re. the global aquaculture & fisheries industries, and sustainable seafood trends. Bertrand has a background in biology (Univ. Of Lyon I, France), natural resources management (Univ. of Leicester, UK) and bilingual journalism (Univ. of La Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris, France). He first put those skills to use as a foreign correspondent for a French daily newspaper covering for several years the Northern Ireland peace process politics & Irish economy and as a science journalist. He also worked in news agencies (AP, AFP), translating, book editing, fly-fishing films, ‘cultural bias’ reviewer for two versions of Microsoft’s Encarta Encyclopaedia.

Keenly interested in CSR, ethics & “Sustainability” in the realm of seafood, fisheries, aquaculture-at-large & salmon farming in particular… Bertrand is a strong advocate of a more holistic approach to ‘sustainability’ in the realm of food & oceans; and of increased corporate & institutional transparency. He is the author of the only yearly benchmark of the global salmon farming & seafood industry corporate transparency – Project ongoing since 2010… The reports/benchmarks aim to help key players and stakeholders of the seafood industry assess the level of proactive communication /voluntary transparency displayed by the top salmon farmers worldwide when it comes to corporate, social and environmental sustainability, and… possibly… improve.

In October 2015 in Vigo, Spain – in fringe of the celebrations of the 20-year anniversary of the UN FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF) – Bertrand was one of three speakers invited to present at a 1.5-day event organised by the FAO, the Global Salmon Initiative (GSI) and IDH, the sustainable trade initiative titled: “Increasing Public Understanding and Acceptance of Aquaculture – the role of truth, transparency and transformation” (FAO report published in September 2016). The introduction was made by Árni M. Mathiesen, UN FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department Assistant Director-General, and Audum Lem, FAO Deputy Director, International Trade and Development. In October 2014, he moderated one of the GSI’s “Pathway to Sustainability II” international seminar’s modules in Puerto Montt, Chile.

SESSIONS:

Whilst the ‘sustainable seafood’ debate currently operates within firmly established boundaries — including some frameworks & standards – the level of transparency displayed by the seafood industry is globally sorely lagging. The results of annual sustainability reporting benchmarks of the world’s 100 largest companies (including a 6-year case study of the farmed salmon industry) and ‘keystone actors’ will be presented; highlighting quantitatively the areas of lacks and linking these with ‘acceptance and perceptions’ of seafood production systems. The 2010-2017 yearly transparency benchmarks based on a set of 135-150 key performance indicators (KPIs) applied to the aquaculture, wild-catch, fish feed/fishmeal-oil and seafood processing/trade sectors provides a unique set of data, metrics; and a comparative tool enabling improvements of the industry’s transparency based on stakeholders’ expectations. The changing perceptions in ethically, responsibly-farmed and sustainably-fished seafood will be highlighted, as well as shifting positive/negative media coverage world-wide. A case linking holistically sustainability reporting, sustainability performance/efforts and multi-stakeholder “trust”, access to capital/social licence to operate will be presented.

Highlighted outcomes from the World Seafood Congress in Reykjavík Iceland 2017 -Based on inputs from Matis experts and chairs of sessions at the World Seafood Congress Increased international cooperation within the Blue Bioeconomy is key to sustainable use of the world’s aquatic resources for food production and other value creation as well as an improved […]

The Iceland Responsible Fisheries programme is a voluntary marketing tool serving the Icelandic fishing industry and the value chain in whole. The project was launched in 2008 and it includes promotion of origin and certification of Icelandic fisheries. The IRF Foundation (IRFF) owns the programme and takes care of the operation and certification, but Promote […]